Borrowers hoping for a cut in their interest charges to the eurozone average shouldn't hold their breath.

The notion that bank shares will be holed below the water line is equally daft.

The powers proposed by McGrath will almost certainly never be used.

But McGrath has played his hand well, demonstrating a more sophisticated understanding of the new Dáil arithmetic than his veteran opposite number.

In the new Dáil, ministers have responsibility without power, and Fianna Fáil has power without responsibility.

In opposition, McGrath has the luxury of championing the little guy, while Michael Noonan is struggling to balance the needs of consumers with the financial pull of State shareholdings in three of the five main banks.

McGrath does get finance, though. The 39-year-old Cork TD graduated with a Commerce degree from UCC and combined his early career in local politics with work as an accountant at KPMG.

During the last Dáil, McGrath's outwardly low-key, constructive approach was deceptive.

Post-2011 he slowly but surely eroded Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty's status as the headline grabber among opposition voices on finance. Last week's coup, a product of the new Dáil numbers, means Michael Noonan's authoritative status is now in danger of going the same way.